So I headed down to Tucson a day early this week. Tomorrow I finally have to take that dreaded drug test (ew gross peeing in a cup...). But today presented only an exciting adventure in art!
I met Ms. Endreson in the lobby again at 9:30. She greeted me with a bag full of art supplies and a big sketchpad under her arm. I helped her carry the supplies up to Bridges, where I discovered she had completely switched offices. It was a refreshing transition and I was incredibly happy to find this posted in the door window:
 |
| It was the perfect artsy/sciency mix to get my morning started |
As I perused those old magazines this morning, Kris, the Occupational Therapist at Bridges, stepped into the office to go over the details of her morning group session. She was incredibly enthusiastic about the patients' cooperation and went on to explain her lesson about metronomes and how she showed the patients how to stay calm. Ms. Endreson, Kris, and I all continued the discussion over lunch in the hospital cafeteria and I was left with a positive feeling about the group and art therapy sessions.
Group started around 1 and was led by--instead of Ms. Endreson-- Cassie, a social work intern from ASU. We managed to convince five of the twelve patients in the ward to join us in the 30 minute session. The theme today? Reminiscing.
So, how do you feel about some of these images?
If you're anywhere around my age, you probably don't have many memories of the kinds of things you see above. But the Bridges patients certainly did. I couldn't help but listen intently as three of the older gentleman got into a heated discussion over cars and drive-ins. Through their discussion, I learned a little bit more about each of their personalities.
One patient explained how he remembered bringing dates to the drive-ins when he was a teenager. Another quickly responded that he was always too shy to get a date to bring there in the first place. I loved that a visual stimulus was all they needed to reveal those descriptions of themselves.
After our exciting discussions of pedal pushers and extra big steering wheels, we took a quick break before art therapy. Ms. Endreson and I decided during this time to pursue a case-study sort of approach with one of the patients, which will hopefully involve some one-on-one art therapy sessions in the near future. More to come on that later. Now onto the squishy stuff: clay!
The art therapy project for today featured crayola air-dry clay. The "rules" were pretty open. Once we had our five patients sitting around the art table, we gave each of them a baseball-sized piece of clay and prompted them with images of animals. After all, it is easier to relate to the simple emotions of animals than the complex emotions of fellow humans, right? But, again, "rules" were broken.
Two out of the five patients created animals, including a seagull, rattlesnake, and an apparently fossilized fish. All three creatures triggered background stories that, although not very profound, still showed an increase in communication. The other three patients created more abstract sculptures, from mini furniture to connected spheres. Right now all the mini masterpieces are drying in the hospital. I can't wait to see the finished products tomorrow. Who knows...we might end up painting them.
After the messy clay, the patients hurried off to wash their hands and get to their dinners. Ms. Endreson and I cleaned up and had a quick review of the day. She gave me a number of articles today that I have already started to dig into. I keep finding more and more things about art therapy that fascinate me. So I am off to read a bit more.
Talk to you soon!
Tia
PS I was more conscious during the drive to Tucson today. So, if you're interested, here are a couple of the songs I listened to during that ever so exciting journey:
It's awesome that such simple things like making art with others can increase communication! I look forward to hearing about the surprise game in the near future :)
ReplyDeleteSo did you think the patient discussions were helpful overall?
ReplyDeleteYes! To measure level of recovery from a psychotic disorder we pay attention to things such as facial expression, speech, and interest in others. The fact that these patients, prompted by images, were able to share a conversation and express interest in one another (whether is was intentional or not) is very encouraging. What I concluded from that group session was that the patients were willing to communicate, so overall, it was a helpful push in the right direction.
Delete